gardening

The plots are full! The UNR Extension office will continue to accept waitlist applications for the Carson City Community Gardens until Monday, April 01, 2024 at 5:00 pm. Please call (775) 887-2252 for more information.

There will be a Bee and Garden Conference in Minden March 22-24. This conference will focus on beekeeping, pollinators, and landscaping for homeowners and small acreages. There will also be hands-on classes for floral design, making medicinal products from the hive, and value-added honey products.

UNR Extension Master Gardeners of Douglas County are hosting the third annual Seed Swap. This event is to provide community members a place to share seeds, plants, and ideas.

Through all the gardener’s challenges this year, vegetable gardens in the Ranchos still provided a bountiful harvest. Something to be grateful for. A pleasure to share with neighbors, friends, and colleagues alike.

Join UNR Extension Douglas County for a Fall Harvest Festival happening this Wednesday at Dangberg Ranch Historic Park.

Gardening brings me peace of mind — it soothes my soul. All the workday worries seem to melt away.
This has been a challenging year for local gardeners — a late freeze damaged both flower and vegetable gardens.

The rule of thumb, “Don’t plant anything before Memorial Day” was beaten down by a hard frost on June 20. Slowly my garden has moved forward.

Bring your gardening questions to Carson's Community Garden to get solutions on alternating Saturdays starting July 8, 2023, from 9:00 a.m. -11:00 a.m. Carson City and Storey County Extension Master Gardener interns will be available to examine plant/insect samples, discuss alternatives and provide support for area gardeners, families, and those new to gardening in the region.

Community Roots and Shoots in Dayton will have extended shopping hours for Mother’s Day weekend. In addition to many options for Mother’s Day gifts in their garden center and gift shop, they’re also hosting an outdoor rummage sale on Saturday, May 13 from 9 am-5:30pm, with all proceeds going to Healthy Communities Coalition’s food pantries.

I love bulbs. My front garden is full of crocuses, hyacinths, daffodils and tulips. They are some of the hardiest plants I grow. Even covered with snow, they poke through and bloom.

UNR Extension Douglas County Master Gardeners Program the 2nd Annual Seed Swap will be on Saturday, January 28, 2023, from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm at the UNR Extension Douglas County Office 1325 Waterloo Ln. in Gardnerville.

Youth interested in learning more about honey bees and pollinators will love this camp. The fun and hands-on sessions will include topics such as: bee anatomy, bee care, products from the hive, planting for pollinators, honey tasting and processing, other pollinators, and what to look for in a hive inspection.

Please join UNR Extension Douglas County Master Gardeners for The Great Iris Exchange on September 7, 2022 at Heritage Park Community Gardens from 5:30-6:30 pm.

Bring Iris's to swap or just give a way. Don't have any Iris but want some, come on down and grab a few.

Join URN Extension Master Gardener Janice Scott to learn how to dig, divide and plant Iris.
This event is free and open to the public.
Location Dangberg Home Historic Ranch 1450 NV-88, Minden, NV.
For more information or questions contact jessicagardner@unr.edu or 775-782-9960

Join us for a 4 part workshop on how to Plan and Plant a Pollinator Garden in a weekend. Location: Douglas County Community Center, CVMC Room, Gardnerville.

Saturdays from 10-11 am

September 10 - Garden Planning Basics

September 17 - Butterfly Gardens

September 24 - Hummingbird Gardens

October 1 - General Pollinator Gardens
Sign up for all the classes or just one, it is up to you!

Presented by UNR Extension Master Gardeners Douglas County

Registration is required. Space is limited

UNR Extension Douglas County Master Gardener Volunteer Program is back! On July 13, 2022, from noon to 1 p.m. UNR Extension Douglas County will be holding a question-and-answer session regarding the Master Gardener Volunteer Program.

Tromp the backstreets and open spaces with Evert Broderick and explore everything from native plants typical of the region to the massive influx of introduced plants, weeds and more on Sunday, June 12 as part of Plant Walk on the Comstock in Virginia City.

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey counties will hosts its monthly meeting on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021, 9 a.m. via Zoom. The public meeting includes member updates and introductions, discussion of matters of regional importance to health and wellness, plus presentations by guest speakers.

In recent weeks, the ground was pliable. The temperature, comfortable and the outside beckoned. The urge to plant was getting hard to resist. Yet resist we must, for this is winter after all. I know the 15-day forecast is unreliable, but I can’t help but check it out, if, for no other reason than to instill a smidgin of common sense into my “I want to plant” brain. Snow is ahead this week.

Happy New Year! Many of us are glad to see the end of 2020 and hope 2021 will be much healthier and more peaceful. The calendar says winter is here, but the temperatures don’t seem to agree. I’m not complaining — sunny winter days in the upper 40s make me happy. Something that does concern me though is the lack of snow.

It was an eventful year around the Carson City region notwithstanding the limitations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Here's some notable stories that were not pandemic related that happened in 2020.

Carolyn Lee Davis passed away November 19, 2020, aged 73. She was a long-time resident of Carson City, where she moved after receiving her Bachelor of Science in Anthropology at Western Oregon University at the age of 53.

On Friday, the Greenhouse Project held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new outdoor classroom which will be used to host both students from Carson High School as well as community classes on gardening and agriculture.


On our walk today I was commenting to my husband “I can’t believe two pine trees could lose that many needles!” This was after I spent a number of hours raking the needles up from the driveway. My next question was “Can I compost pine needles?”

Snow and cold, oh boy! The leaves still remaining on the ground are heavy and soggy, so no raking for a bit. That’s good news. The ground is moist again, so more good news. I got the tools, hoses, sprinklers and patio furniture put away before the storms. We turned off and drained the main sprinklers in time. So far so good.

Next time I write about loving all my wonderful cottonwood trees, would someone please remind me why they call it fall?! For weeks, my husband and I have been raking, blowing, mowing, sweeping and moving leaves every day for hours and we are still not done.

Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties’ food pantries in Dayton, Yerington and Silver Springs are asking for donations of typical Thanksgiving side dish ingredients.

My friend Kristen and I were discussing that fall is the best time for planting almost everything. Not only are plants on sale at nurseries, the soil is warm and the weather is cool, which is less stressful on newly installed plants.

It’s the annual conundrum. Is it too soon to turn off the irrigation system? With recent nights down to the teens here in Washoe Valley, we turned off the irrigation system and drained it prior to the forthcoming hard freezes. Then we turned off the outside water and drained the hose bibs too. Yet with temperatures last week back in the 60s with low to mid-30s at night, I’m sure I will have to irrigate again soon.

I'm just itching to start pruning our evergreens, but my arborist self knows it’s a bit soon. I will wait until we have a hard freeze, to ensure my pruning cuts won’t attract any bark beetles. When a tree is pruned, we actually are wounding it.

This spring I told myself I would remember to fertilize the lawn in the fall, because I forgot in 2019. I noticed the grass didn’t seem as strong this year and I had a lot more weeds such as clover and black medic infesting the lawn. Now fall is here and I’m ready to fertilize!